I have an aura ring.

Do you know

what that is?

I promise I'm not

giving you the finger.

It is this little thing

that is on my finger.

It's basically

a sophisticated

health tracker.

It tracks my sleep.

It tracks my steps.

It tracks my exercise,

my resting heart

rate, you name

it it tracks it.

What else

does it track?

Stress and resilience.

Resilience is a pretty

new feature on the ring

and the contributors to

the resilience pattern.

Is your night time

recovery, what that

looks like, your

daytime recovery, and

also what your daytime

stress load looks like.

I love to track

the data that's

being measured.

I don't use it as a

reason as to why I

feel a certain way, but

it does give me some

really good information

and a hint As to why

I might be feeling the

way that I'm feeling.

It tracks stress, but

it also recognizes

that stress can be good

and stress can be bad.

Prolonged periods

of stress are not

great for you.

But if you think about

going to the gym or

doing a bit of cardio

workout, that puts

your body under stress.

The heart rate goes

up, You feel uneasy,

but that feels good,

especially at the end.

Am I right?

There is a lot of talk

on social media about

how stress is bad for

us and how you need

to minimise stress.

But stress can also be

very good for you in

short bursts and it's

also dependent on how

you perceive stress.

If we applied the same

mindset to stress that

you sometimes encounter

in business and use

it to our advantage in

short bursts, how would

this change the way

you run your business?

How can we use stress

to our advantage

in our business?

This is the question

that has been

playing on my mind.

And I've been

thinking about what

that looks like.

And I thought I'd

give you eight ways to

think about stress and

an example of each.

Let me know if

you think that

they're useful.

The worst thing

I find about some

podcasts is that

they're not practical.

So I've tried to make

this super practical.

All right.

Our first one Trying

to reframe stress as.

So instead of viewing

stress as a threat,

see it as a challenge

or an opportunity.

This mindset shift

can increase your

motivation and

make you feel more

resilient to pressure.

So for example, if

you're facing a Tight

deadline, which I

am at the moment.

I view it as an

opportunity to showcase

my efficiency and

my problem solving

skills, rather than it

feeling like a burden.

My second one is

to channel stress

into productivity.

So stress can heighten

your alertness

and your energy.

How do we use this

to our advantage by

channeling, channeling

it, if I can get

the word right,

into productivity?

Productive activities.

My tip here is to

break down large tasks

into smaller

manageable chunks.

The adrenaline from

stress can help you

tackle these tasks

way more efficiently.

The third one is about

setting clear goals.

Stress often arises

from uncertainty.

And so by taking a

step back, by setting

clear achievable

goals, you've reduced

that uncertainty for

yourself and you can

create a beautiful,

clear path forward.

I personally

love clarity.

And so if I find

myself in a bit of a

tiz, I'll go back and

I'll look at my goals

and I'll make sure

that they're clear.

And if they're not

clear, I work really

hard to get them clear.

And so my strategy

here is to use

stress as a signal

to review my goals.

Are they clear?

Do you have a plan

to achieve them?

Or do you just kind

of know the what,

but don't really

know the how?

Sometimes having the

plan puts you back

in the driver's seat

and makes you feel

much more in control.

Number four is

about developing a

resilient mindset.

Stress can make

us more resilient.

If we choose to learn

from it, reflecting on

stressful experiences

and identifying what

helped you cope or

what helped you succeed

is so important.

So something

to do after a

stressful event.

So for us, it is

an actual event

in real life.

After that event, I

take time to reflect

on what I learned.

worked well and

what we can improve.

This builds mental

toughness over time

and also helps me stop,

celebrate,

and reflect.

Number five, you

can use stress

to enhance focus.

When you're stressed,

your body is in a

heightened state

of awareness.

Using this to your

advantage by focusing

on the most important

tasks that you

need to get done.

The technique that I

use here is to practice

mindfulness or deep

breathing exercises,

just to help me

harness and direct my

stress induced energy

toward focused work.

I just take small micro

breaks during the day.

That's all it takes.

So it might be just 10

seconds of breathing

just to bring that down

and get me focused.

I also do love the

apps that have the

cafe noises in the

background that

helps me to get

more done as well.

Number six is

leveraging stress

for creativity.

Stress can push you to

think outside the box.

When faced with

challenges, use

it as a catalyst

for innovation.

Have you ever been

really stressed, gone

for a walk or a shower?

And then boom, the

answer appears.

Me too.

When I'm faced with

a stressful problem,

I brainstorm creative

solutions or look for

new approaches that I

wouldn't consider in

a more relaxed state.

To do this for me, I

have to leave my desk.

I have to leave this

room and I have to

get out and get a

new perspective and

that really helps.

Number seven for

me is building a

supportive network.

sharing your trusted

colleagues or

mentors can provide

you with different

perspectives and also

different solutions.

Something to action

from here is around

creating a supportive

business community

where you can discuss

challenging situations

and collaborate

on solutions.

This might be a

very tight knit

group of people.

I cannot spruik

having a community of

like minded people

around you more.

You all know, I

love my community.

I'm in a few

different communities.

I love my thriving

women community.

I love my business

school community.

I love my faculty roles

for these reasons.

Amazing people.

Number eight is really

around practicing

stress management

techniques, right?

So regularly practicing

stress management

techniques like

exercise, meditation,

or hobbies that can

help you maintain a

healthy balance and

use stress positively.

If you've been

following along for

a while, you will

know that I've been

practicing meditation

for years now.

And it has been

an absolute game

changer for me.

It's all guided.

I can't do footloose

and fancy free.

It just doesn't

work for me.

You might not

love that.

You might go, I hate

meditation, but what

about some other

mindful activities?

One of my clients

does colouring in.

And she loves that.

When I need a mindful

activity, I'm a nerd.

I go to declutter

our wardrobes.

Everyone knows mom's

feeling a little bit

stressed if she's

going to declutter

the wardrobes.

But I also do Lego and

I find that that's just

the thing to help me

wind down a little bit.

I also incorporate

daily activities that

reduce stress so I

can remain sharp and

focus when business

pressure arises.

I'm an early bird,

so I get up at five

in the morning.

I do my walk and

then I meditate.

It works for me.

Find what

works for you.

I think that we need to

reframe how

we view stress

and we view

it as a tool

rather than something

to be avoided.

We're all like, let's

not get stressed.

Let's keep calm

and carry on.

What happens if

actually the stress

helps us to harness its

energy, which can help

us in the long run.

There is a caveat.

There's always a

caveat to these

podcasts, isn't there?

A gentle reminder

that our bodies and

our minds cannot sit

in stress for long

periods of time.

So we need to

manage it well.

We need to use it when

it comes and also make

sure that we're getting

downtime as well.

This has been hard

for me to learn.

And it's also hard

when we're juggling

all the things.

And a couple

of weeks ago, I

recorded an episode

on the mental load.

Go check that one out.

There's a really

good episode if you

want some extra,

education around this.

There's a really

good episode

on, , Huberman Lab.

So Andrew Huberman

that talks about the

stress response that

you might like to

listen, listen to.

And we'll drop it in

the show notes for you.

So stress, stress

ain't the enemy.

It's how we manage it,

how we leverage it,

and how we use it

to our advantage.

What are you

going to do next?

Are you going to

leverage it, or are

you going to let

it leverage you?